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June Blog 2012

Time really does fly these days, already mid way through June and the longest day looming…. as I write this only a matter of days and the nights will be drawing in!!

It has definitely been somewhat of a strange couple of months on the fishing front. Firstly, this time of year sees many species having other things on their minds other than feeding on bait. And with the rather strange weather we have been having the spawning season has certainly been up and down to say the least. I think all the fish on all venues have now done the business so we should now see a few more fish grace the bank.

Calfheath continues to throw some good numbers of fish with recent match weights of nearly 80lb being produced…that takes some beating! On the Carp front fish have been showing in large numbers on the usual spots along the dam wall although several fish have been taken from the shallower end in front of the lawns. The usual methods of bottom baits early in the day fished over a healthy amount of spod mix work well, and the introduction of zig rigs fished in the upper layers proving successful through the middle of the day. Yellow always seems to work well, boilies or rig foam, so give it a try.

It has also been refreshing to see the newer night syndicate members gracing the Calfheath banks, the more the merrier , its been a little forgotten in recent years but can be very productive and in some cases there is often the need to bring your rods in for a few hours to get some sleep! Remember, if you bring your car through the gate during the night you must put it back on the car park at first light, Thanks.

Fishing at Kingswood Lake has been a little frustrating of late for all species, with initially the fish spawning and then the unusual amount of rain for this time of year causing the lake to flood on several occasions. It was hoped that the new stocking of silver fish would increase catch rates for all anglers but conditions have not really been conducive to large catches. The main gauge for this would be taken from the match weights and they are still a little lower than expected, however a few more bags of silvers were caught last month, hopefully a more settled period of weather will see this improve.

The carp at kingswood are still showing encouraging signs of healthy growth and those that I have seen are in magnificent condition. The future looks very good in that respect. Andrew Briggs has also caught one of the original fish of the lake, quite distinctive as it has a small cut out section on its tail, at 24lb 8oz. This fish has been out a few times now but is a nice addition to the newer fish and always welcome.

Moving on to Leacroft pool now and the weed is back!! Some would say ‘Oh No’ but to me it says get fishing. The fish definitely love the weed on this lake and will hold up in numbers in and around the several large weed beds. This pool does offer many new challenges to our anglers and fishing can be frustrating but the rewards are worth the effort.

This could not be better illustrated, than recent events which saw Tom Merchant loose the big common (or’ the long common’ as an old member said it was called) in the weed after stalking it out from the right hand finger. A few weeks later saw Gary Kuzmicz catch the big girl or be it not so big after spawning at just over 24lb! You win some, you lose some, thats fishing!

Many new anglers are now gracing the bank at Leacroft, and with the extra bait going in I am sure the fish will soon put the weight back on. One thing I would like to say at this point regarding pre baiting. Please could all anglers show due consideration to other anglers on the lake… it really is not good manners to go around spreading bait all over the lake when people are fishing, think how you would feel if you were fishing and got traps set only to find others coming and putting bucket loads of particle and kilo’s of boilies in, compromising their chances of catching fish. Please find a quiet time to do your baiting, and anyway why show everyone where you are fishing?

The catches of silver fish are slowly but surely getting better and some nice bream can be had both to float and feeder tactics. Not quite to calf heath standards but we are getting there. Ian Davies our match secretary was getting in a little practice in recently and had some very nice bream on float fished pellet.

The Turf Pool still proves to be as popular as ever. The carp can be a little frustrating down there showing themselves in spectacular style launching themselves out all over the place and cruising under the surface while seemingly uninterested in anglers baits. Good catches have still been had, Rob Archer on a short overnight session recently had 8 fish. He fished boilies fished over a sprinkling of hemp and if not for a bad back (not sure it was the size if fish!) im sure would have had many more. Bob Brown and old stalwart Alan Carter have also graced the bank taking fish from the back of the island. Fishing tight to the island and I mean within half a meter will account for many fish.

That just about covers the pools for now. On a personal note, I have not managed to get out on the bank too much but I have been lucky enough to have two trips to France.

The beginning of April saw Gary Kuzmicz and myself revisit Etang De Janine just south of Le Mans which had been very kind to us the year before and although the weather was very changeable proved just as good again. We both had some wonderful fish. I had a 44lb common, a 47lb mirror and a 39lb mirror. Gary smashed the place as normal and had a 45lb common and a new PB 52lb 4oz mirror. He also had several cat fish to 48lb which made for a very interesting week and it is a lake I would recommend to anyone looking for a trip to France. If you require details just ask…

Three weeks later I had the opportunity to fish one of the Angling Lines lakes Margot, again just south of Le Mans. This is home to a 70lber!!! Alas I did not catch that big girl but did manage 10 fish, the biggest a 43lb common. The fish were spawned out and a little down in weight but still in very good condition. I saw several good fish landed and the sight of a 48lb grass carp will live with me for a long time. At nearly 4 foot long it was some specimen and a fish I would love to catch myself sometime.

You may have noticed the new ‘Blackfords Abroad’ section within the gallery. If you have any holiday fish pictures you would like to share with us please forward them to Gary and we will get them posted.